Obama disowns pastor after all

Wednesday

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Barack Obama said last month that he couldn't disown his former pastor. Turns out that he could -- and did.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Barack Obama said last month that he couldn't disown his former pastor. Turns out that he could — and did.

Obama, trying to tamp down the political uproar over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, went before the cameras yesterday to denounce the minister's comments as "giving comfort to those who prey on hate." He also took exception to Wright's contention that Obama has made certain comments in the presidential race simply because he's a politician.

He said their relationship had been damaged to the point that it will never be the same. "If Rev. Wright thinks that that's political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn't know me very well," a visibly angry Obama said in a news conference. "And based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well as I thought, either."

Obama was reacting for a second straight day, this time stepping up his criticism of Wright after the minister's speech Monday at the National Press Club.

"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday," the Illinois senator said.

Obama's strong words came six weeks after he delivered a sweeping speech on race in which he sharply condemned Wright's remarks but did not leave the church or repudiate the minister himself, who he said was like a family member. "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community," Obama said of Wright at the time.

Obama is coming off a loss in Pennsylvania to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and trying to win over white workingclass voters in Indiana and North Carolina in Tuesday's primaries.

After weeks of staying out of the public eye while critics lambasted his sermons, Wright, the former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago made three public appearances in four days to defend himself.

On Monday, Wright criticized the U.S. government as imperialist and stood by his suggestion that the United States invented the HIV virus as a means of genocide against minorities. "Based on this Tuskegee experiment and based on what has happened to Africans in this country, I believe our government is capable of doing anything," he said.

Perhaps even worse for Obama, Wright suggested that his congregant secretly concurs with his views.

"If Sen. Obama did not say what he said, he would never get elected," Wright said. "Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls."

Obama stated that he doesn't share the views of the man who officiated at his wedding, baptized his two daughters and provided the inspiration for the title of the senator's book, The Audacity of Hope.

"What became clear to me is that he was presenting a world view that contradicts who I am and what I stand for," Obama said yesterday. "And what I think particularly angered me was his suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks were somehow political posturing. Anybody who knows me and anybody who knows what I'm about knows that I am about trying to bridge gaps and I see the commonality in all people."

Although Obama leads in pledged Democratic delegates, neither he nor Clinton, a New York senator, can win the nomination without the support of the superdelegates, the elected officials and party leaders who can vote their preference. The Wright furor forces those Democrats to wonder about Obama's electability in November.

Facing that reality, Obama sought to distance himself further from Wright.

"I have been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992, and have known Rev. Wright for 20 years," Obama said. "The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago."

The Illinois senator said of Wright's statements Monday: "All it was was a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in truth.

"Obviously, whatever relationship I had with Rev. Wright has changed," Obama said. "I don't think he showed much concern for me; more importantly, I don't think he showed much concern for what we're trying to do in this campaign."

Obama said he heard that Wright had given "a performance" and when he watched news accounts, he realized that it was more than just a case of the former pastor defending himself.

"His comments were not only divisive and destructive, I believe they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate," Obama said. "I'll be honest with you, I hadn't seen it" when reacting initially on Monday, he said.

Wright had asserted that criticism of his fiery sermons was an attack on the black church. Obama rejected that.

Wright recently retired from the church. He became an issue in Obama's presidential bid when videos circulated of Wright condemning the U.S. government for allegedly racist and genocidal acts. In one, Wright called on God to "damn America." He also said the government created the AIDS virus to destroy "people of color."

Obama said he was particularly distressed that the furor has been a distraction to the purpose of his campaign.

"I gave him the benefit of the doubt in my speech in Philadelphia, explaining that he's done enormous good. ... But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS. ... There are no excuses. They offended me. They rightly offend all Americans and they should be denounced."

While Obama said he remains a member of the church, "obviously this has put a strain on that relationship."

At one point, Obama said he understood the pressures Wright faced but wouldn't excuse his comments. "I think he felt vilified and attacked and I understand him wanting to defend himself," Obama said. "That may account for the change, but the insensitivity and the outrageousness of the statements shocked me and surprised me."

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